noun(pluralelephants; alsoelephant)Usage: often attributiveEtymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French olifant,elefant, from L. elephantus, from Greek elephant-, elephasDate: 14th century1. any of a family (Elephantidae, the elephant family) of thickset usually extremely large nearly hairless herbivorous mammals that have a snout elongated into a muscular trunk and two incisors in the upper jaw developed especially in the male into large ivory tusks and that include two living forms and various extinct relatives: as
a. a tall large-eared mammal (Loxodonta africana) of tropical Africa — called also African elephantb. a relatively small-eared mammal (Elephas maximus) of forests of southeastern Asia — called also Asian elephant, Indian elephant2. an animal or fossil related to the elephants
3. one that is uncommonly large or hard to manage

elephant — This noble animal has given rise to a number of phrases and idioms, such as white elephant and see the elephant (mainly AmE, meaning ‘to gain experience of the world’). More recently, the presence of an elephant in the room signals ‘a big problem … Modern English usage

elephant — UK US /ˈelɪfənt/ noun [C] INFORMAL ► a very large organization, often one that is slow to do things or react to events: »The elephant banks were once thought to be too large to fail. → Compare GAZELLE(Cf. ↑gazelle) → See also … Financial and business terms